Father, often you tell us to pray for things we don't want.
And so, Father, we're just being honest with you.
The way, Father, we deal with that is we just ignore it.
We don't bother praying about it at all.
We don't think of ourselves as being rebellious against you.
We just ignore it.
Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would do a mighty work in our lives,
that the Holy Spirit would bring the gospel to our lives in a deeper and deeper and deeper way
so that, Father, we hear your word and we long to try to live it and to pray it and to put it into practice.
So, Father, do that wonderful work in us this morning as we spend time studying your word.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
I don't want to be presumptuous about you folks that there's things that God tells us to do
that we don't bother doing.
But actually, that's true.
There's all sorts of things he tells us to do that we don't actually want to have happen.
And so, we just generally tend to ignore it.
Andrew, if you could put up the first point.
We're in a sermon series of all-around one-verse sermons.
And my hope is that you will want to memorize these scripture passages
and as you memorize them that you'll be able to pray them and meditate upon them and think upon them.
And it's easier to do that if you memorize them.
So, this is the second week.
It's a series of different verses which are well worth our time to memorize and meditate upon.
So, if you would just join with me.
This is the verse that I'm preaching on today.
Just one verse.
And by the way, if you come here in the fall, don't worry.
If I spend 35 minutes on one verse, if I preach 10 verses, I won't preach for 350 minutes.
It's just one-verse sermons.
So, if you would say this with me, please, that would be very helpful.
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart to fear your name.
Psalm 8611.
Can you say it with me again?
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart to fear your name.
Now, here's the thing about this.
It might be that for most of us as Christians, we know we're not really allowed to say that we don't want that.
But from a Canadian perspective, most people in Canada don't want any of that.
Or any of this, I guess I should just say.
Let's just be honest about that.
So, the fact of the matter is, is if we advertised in our services,
come with us this Sunday to fear the Lord, that would not draw the crowds.
It might draw the crowds of the curious to see who the kooks are
that want to actually gather together to fear the Lord.
But it's not a felt need.
It's not something that Canadians think they need or that they want.
In fact, lots about the text is very impressive.
Like, your truth?
Like, God?
Like, why do you think your truth is more important than my truth?
Like, why do you think your way is more important than my way?
Like, the way to grow as a Canadian is to become true to yourself,
true to your own way.
Not let anybody else tell me how to be happy.
Nobody can tell me how to be happy.
I have to be happy on my own terms.
That's what Canadians think.
Very interesting.
Many of you who are parents and maybe showed that pleasant enough movie Frozen to your kids,
go back and look at the words to the song.
That many of your young kids might have even learned the words of the song.
And you'll see that in the words of that song,
basically what they're saying is,
nobody can tell me how to be happy on their terms.
I'm happy on my own terms.
I'm happy in my own way, with my own truth.
I have to be true to myself.
And as our kids sing that song, that's what they're learning.
Now, some of you are here.
So here's the thing.
When I was in Angola a year ago,
one of the things which was so interesting for me about being in Angola with the missionaries
is that many of the missionaries in the mission agency that I was visiting,
health care was a key part of their mission.
I mean, they wanted to share the gospel,
but part of the way they shared the gospel was through health care.
By getting to know people, caring for their physical needs,
they would know that they were Christians,
and they would get to share the gospel with them.
And one of the problems that they had in going to the rural villages,
because they're in a community of about a million people,
but they went out to the rural villages,
and in the rural villages,
they might have to say something because the baby's sick or somebody's sick.
And so the nurse practitioner would say,
listen, when you come in, the doctor will give you some medicine.
And then the nurse would say, here's the things you have to do.
And one of the things they might say is that you can't drink the water here anymore.
And they would show them how to make the water clean.
And they'd say, the water is making you sick.
You can't drink the water.
You have to follow this procedure to get clean water or good water
that will make you healthy and not make you sick.
And then they'd also give them some medications that they had to take.
But the problem that they would run into time and time and time again
is that the people, they would all nod very politely,
because Angolans are very polite.
So they would nod like this.
But inside, while their head was going like this,
their inside head was going like this.
Because in their inside head, their inside head was saying,
what's wrong with our water?
Like, my ancestors have been drinking this water for generations.
I don't need your water.
Like, I don't need you white person to tell me how to have proper water.
So they would nod politely.
And then the nurse practitioner would leave.
And they wouldn't use the technique to make the water clean,
but they would use their own water, which was just making the problem worse.
And in many cases as well, they wouldn't take the medication,
because they'd think that what was really at matter
was something the witch doctor had said,
or some other way that they had offended against some spirit,
the spirit of the tree or the water or the bush or whatever.
And so this doctor was coming, or the nurse was coming,
and they were giving these people in these remote tribal areas
things that they didn't want, didn't think they needed.
So let's just think for a moment.
I mean, in Canada, we're far more sophisticated than in rural,
very, very deeply rural Angola.
We might all say we're far more sophisticated.
But let's just pretend for a moment.
Let's just at least give some credence to ask ourselves,
this psalm up here, this part of the psalm,
teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart to fear your name.
Maybe it's wise.
Let's just take it for a second to say maybe it's wise.
And it's telling us to do something that we Canadians,
who are very sophisticated, think we don't need and we don't want.
But maybe it actually is something that we need or we want.
Maybe in some ways we're more like a rural tribe in Angola
than we realize.
So let's look at the first thing.
Teach me your way, O Lord.
So some of you might say, well, okay, George, what's up with that, George?
Like, okay, you want me to sort of like not just dismiss it off of hand,
but actually look at it and take it into heart.
And it says, you know, teach me your way.
But George, what's up with that?
Like how on earth can it be that one size fits all?
Like are you saying that there's just one way for Angola
and one way for Canada,
one way for somebody who's sort of illiterate
and somebody has a PhD for a man and for a woman,
for a person who's gay,
a person who's heterosexual?
Like, like George, like that just doesn't make any sense to me
that there's just this one way.
And then the other thing that they might say,
if they're just saying, okay, George,
I'm going to take you up on your challenge.
I'm not just going to dismiss it.
Just roll my eyes and I'm going to actually look at it
and try to take it seriously.
But, okay, but George, let's say,
I don't know, George,
isn't this just sort of leading to you
just saying that you have to do the religious things
that you say you have to do that,
I don't know, I don't know,
you have to, I don't know,
read the Bible, go to church.
There's going to be a whole pile of don'ts
and a few pile of do's.
And most of the do's are just really pretty boring.
And I'm not even remotely interested in it.
Like George, it just sounds like religion
and it's just not, doesn't sound like very helpful.
Like I'm willing to maybe try to at least have a conversation
with you about it rather than just dismiss it.
But I just can't see this going anywhere.
Teach me your way.
Those are really, really good comments, by the way.
If you can get to a point where you have a conversation
with somebody like that and they say that,
those are very, very good.
And on one level, we have those types of fears
lurking deep in our own mind about texts like this.
So here's the first thing about this line
because my first point is teach me your way, oh Lord.
That's my first thing.
Well, what's it going on to say?
Well, here's the thing.
It probably is the case that when the person who wrote this
and the Jewish people who are reading this,
and even for many of us,
we might get a little bit uncomfortable
with what this imaginary person said
about thinking that there's just one way for rich and poor,
for gay and straight, for married and single,
and for Angola and Canada and Nigeria and Singapore
and Russia and Manhattan.
And we might get a little bit defensive
and we might talk a little bit about religion,
but at our heart of hearts,
even the way we try to defend the text
will show that we're in trouble.
Because we will start to try to talk about this text.
We'll try to defend it as something religious
when we as a Christian need to read this
in a very, very different way
than the original people would have thought.
Because you see, as Christians,
what's the thing that we should realize
when we read this text?
Is that no religion works.
I mean, part of the whole point
of Jesus' ministry
was to speak to people's hearts
about what they knew on one level
about their lives.
That nobody could keep
all of the different rules and commandments
in the Old Testament.
Like, nobody could keep them.
Nobody could keep them.
There's just too many of them.
And we're always breaking them.
And the fact of the matter is,
is that God doesn't want you and me to pray this
because it now is that
we all have to keep a whole pile of rules
and a whole pile of rituals.
And that's what the way is.
And God is to teach us
all of these different rules.
Like, as a Christian,
we should look at this and say,
one moment,
if I try to make myself righteous
and justify myself,
if I try to make myself right
with the living God,
if I try to just follow
all these commandments,
if I'm honest with myself,
it just doesn't work.
And the heart of the Christian faith
is that the gospel
isn't good religion
and it isn't good rules,
but it's good news.
And what is at the heart of the Christianity?
Is that the good news
is that God has provided a way
because no human being's way works.
No human being,
even when God reveals,
keep these laws,
keep these commands,
do these sacrifices,
do all of these types of things,
nobody's actually able to do it.
Like, nobody was able to do it
other than Jesus.
Nobody could do it.
So when we read this text,
see, here's the problem
for us as Christians,
and non-Christians
often pick this up about us.
On one breath,
on one hand,
we talk about grace,
but then after we've said grace,
we talk about what we have to do
as if there is no grace.
We talk on one hand
as if it's all what God has done,
but then after that's left our mouth,
two seconds later,
we're talking about what we have to do.
But when we pray this prayer,
teach me your way, O Lord,
what we as Christians should be saying is,
Lord, teach me the gospel.
Father, bring the gospel to bear.
May your Holy Spirit
bring the gospel to bear
at deeper and deeper
and deeper levels of my life.
Father, what this prayer is teaching us
to say is,
Father, I want to be honest with you.
I sort of remember the gospel,
but then immediately,
I think it's all up to what I do
and what I accomplish
and how I can make myself look good
and how I can justify myself
and how I can make myself righteous.
And then I start to feel guilty
and I start to feel overwhelmed by it.
And I sort of,
Father, I say I believe the gospel,
but as soon as I say it,
I forget it.
And the Christian growth
doesn't come by we human beings
developing better willpower
or increasing our IQ
or increasing our word power
or increasing our wealth
or increasing our power
or increasing our influence.
Christian growth happens
as the Holy Spirit applies the gospel
to more and more areas of our lives
where the gospel starts to become real to us
at a deep level.
That we start to think about money
in terms of the gospel.
That we start to think about sexuality
in terms of the gospel.
That we start to think about singleness
or marriage or children
or lack of children
in terms of the gospel
and how the gospel is forming us.
See, so for we as a Christian,
when we say,
teach me your way, O Lord,
part of that is,
Lord, teach me the gospel.
Bring the gospel.
Speak the gospel
into deeper and deeper layers of my life,
deeper and deeper places of my life.
Father, make the gospel real to me.
Make the gospel real to me.
It's not just about religion.
It's all about what Jesus did
to make us right with God.
What Jesus did
to make us reconcile to God.
About a year or two ago,
I had to get to the airport
really early in the morning.
I was going to Vancouver
and I was going to take,
I was going to a Christian conference.
And so I arranged a cab ride
the night before.
And sure enough,
at whatever it was,
5.15 in the morning,
the cab shows up at my house
and I get out
and the cab driver was,
this particular cab driver
was very chatty.
And so he asked me
where I was going.
I mean, he knew I was going to the airport
because that was all part of the arrangement.
And he said,
where are you going in Vancouver?
Now here,
I just remember,
I think last time I was here,
two Sundays ago,
I just asked to pray for me.
There's times,
like what went through my mind,
he said,
where are you going?
And what went through my mind is,
oh, I'm going to do some continuing ed.
That's what went through my mind.
But,
you see,
this is how we can bear witness to Jesus
in a very simple way.
But instead,
I realized that was a temptation.
What I said was,
well, actually,
I'm a pastor of a church
and I'm going to learn more about
what it means to be a Christian.
And how to live as a Christian.
That's what,
that's actually what I was doing.
If I had just said
I was doing some continuing ed,
I would have been sort of ashamed
of the gospel,
really,
wouldn't I have?
Just being honest before you.
So,
the cab driver was a Muslim.
His ears pricked up
and he immediately said,
well,
how can you be a Christian?
And,
you know,
the gospel,
the Bible is all full of errors,
et cetera,
blah,
blah.
And I,
I,
I give a very quick answer to that,
an accurate answer about,
well,
actually,
you know,
we can trust the Bible more
than you think
and scholarship,
but give it like a two or three minute answer.
And then the conversation turned into a very,
very different way.
He said to me,
well,
he said,
okay,
that's,
that's good that you can be more confident in the Bible
than you can in the Koran.
But he said,
it doesn't get around the big,
the basic problem.
For many,
many years,
I tried to keep the Koran.
And now I,
I just tell my mom
and I tell my family that
how can a book written 1400 years ago
guide you about how to live your life today?
Like,
how can it be true?
And,
you know,
I,
he said,
I keep Ramadan,
sort of,
I sort of cheat during the day,
but I really like getting together
with all my family
to have a big feast
at the end of the night,
but I don't like really being all hungry all day.
So I,
you know,
I,
I sort of,
I hide it,
but I,
and,
but he said,
the fundamental thing is,
it doesn't matter if your book is more accurate than mine,
is anything written so long ago
can't possibly be true for today.
And,
if you could put up the second line,
teach me your way,
oh Lord,
that I may walk in your truth.
I mean,
that's a really good point,
isn't it?
Like,
how is it that something that was written in our case
almost 2000 years ago,
how can it actually be something
that we can walk in today?
Well,
here,
here's several things in terms of why we should want to pray this,
that after we say,
teach me your way,
oh Lord,
that I may walk in your truth.
And remember that what we're praying
is that the gospel,
that God will have the Holy Spirit
bring the gospel to deeper and deeper and deeper layers
of levels of who we are.
And,
one of the things I actually said to the cab driver
is,
I said,
one of the things which is very remarkable about the Bible
is all the things that aren't in it.
I said to him that,
you know,
the Bible doesn't tell you a way to do economics.
It doesn't tell you a way to do science.
It doesn't tell you a way to do government.
It doesn't tell you a way to do diet.
That part of the reason I trust it,
apart from,
mainly I trust it,
because of Jesus and his death and resurrection,
I told him.
But,
it's amazing how much stuff isn't in it.
But,
what's being asked in this prayer,
it isn't as if the Bible,
the,
Jesus,
the God isn't calling us to pray this prayer
to say that everything you need to know
about everything is found in this book.
Like some of the,
you might know that if you talk to Muslim apologists,
they'll try to show how the Quran teaches modern genetics,
or it teaches modern science,
or it teaches the modern way about how things came to be.
And,
if you follow some Christian apologists,
they'll show you how that's just not the case,
which we wouldn't expect anyway.
But,
the Bible isn't like that at all.
And,
and what's at the heart of this prayer,
that I may walk in your truth,
for Christians,
well,
there's several things.
first of all,
what we're asking here,
is that I,
may I walk in your truth,
that I may walk in what is real.
Because that's the Christian understanding of truth.
The truth,
is knowing what's real.
And,
why wouldn't we want to know what's real?
Like,
isn't that a good thing to pray for?
The Bible,
the text isn't saying,
help me just to try to figure out how I'm going to,
I'm going to fix my Gmail account by reading the Bible.
And,
that just would be silly.
The,
the fact of the matter is,
is that the Bible paints this picture of this propulsive move,
towards just being able to know what is true,
what is real,
and actually know what is real.
And,
you can't know everything exhaustively,
but to actually know the real,
to know the truth,
and to know that the truth is good,
that God is true.
The second thing which this prayer is doing,
is it's making a claim,
and this is the thing,
I,
I'm not very good at communicating it,
when I share the gospel with non-Christians,
but one of the things I try to bring them around to saying is,
you know,
listen,
this,
the claim that Christians are making,
is that this is true,
that Jesus really did live,
that he really did die,
that he really did die in my place,
that he really did rise,
on the third day,
that he really did perform these miracles,
that it's true,
it's true the way,
that it's true the way,
your bank balance is true,
it's true in the way that you,
it's true to say that Ottawa is the capital of Canada,
it's true in these very,
very,
very deep and real senses,
and,
and so on one level it's saying,
this prayer is just saying,
Lord,
now help me to know,
in light of the fact that you really exist,
how the world really is,
because that's another part about it being your truth,
Canada is committed to the proposition,
that God does not exist,
and,
the Supreme Court understands its role,
to make its rules and its decisions,
on the premise that God doesn't exist,
and so would be the media,
and so would be the university,
but we Christians would say,
God really does exist,
and to know that God exists,
is not walking away from reality,
but entering into reality,
and understand how things really are,
and this prayer,
is an invitation for us,
to no longer be people of the lie,
but people of the truth,
you see,
at a very,
very,
very fundamental level,
God is true,
and he wants us to know the truth,
he wants us to know the truth,
about who we are,
he wants us to know the truth,
about the world,
he wants us to use our minds,
and our hearts,
and our imaginations,
and our wills,
to know what is true,
to know what is real,
to know that God is real,
that he really exists,
to know that,
that everything that we see,
is a created thing,
it's not something,
that just happened on its own,
and everything in the Bible,
is saying to us,
it is very easy,
to be people of the lie,
it's very easy,
to say that we want to know something,
because it will make us popular,
it's very easy,
to say we want to know something,
because it will give us honor,
it's very easy to want to know,
because we want to know something,
so it will mean that,
we aren't covered in shame,
It's very easy to want to know something because knowledge is power
or knowledge is just any of these types of things,
or knowledge will make us more money.
But the Bible is calling us to want to be people of the truth,
to know what is true, to know what is real,
to live in a world that is true and real,
to be losing as the gospel becomes deeper and deeper in our lives
that we no longer want to see the world from the perspective of illusion
or of power or of honor or of shame or of making money as the central thing.
But we just want to know what is true,
that God calls you and me to be people of the truth.
And the gospel comes into our lives to start to be able to give us the type of security with God
and security with ourselves that we can start to believe the truth is our friend,
that clarity is our friend.
And that knowing the truth doesn't necessarily, shouldn't make you arrogant or proud,
but it's just good to know the truth.
And the gospel will lead us in that way, will form us in that way.
But somebody might say, okay, George,
if you could put down the third point,
teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth,
unite my heart to fear your name.
But George, come on.
Like fear?
Like, George, isn't it wiser to try to learn to live without fear?
Like, why is it that you would want to tell people to pray that they would fear your name?
And just so you know, name in the psalm is a way of actually saying fear you,
fear God, fear who you are in your truth,
your reality, your essence, all that you are.
It's all sort of capsulated.
It's sort of a way that the Jewish people would try to encapsulate
knowing God as he really is.
And they'd use the word name because God names himself.
He reveals himself.
And so to fear your name is to fear God as you really are,
as you've truly revealed yourself as you really are.
And so some might say, George,
why on earth do you think it's a good thing
to want to encourage people to actually fear God?
Like, isn't it better to learn that God is a God of love,
that God is your friend, that...
And I don't know, what is this stuff, George,
about uniting your heart to fear him?
Like, George, don't you think it's a better thing
to try to just figure out what's going on in your heart
at your deepest level and just trying to be true to it?
Like, George, isn't that what our gay and lesbian
and bisexual and transgendered friends have really taught us,
that you just need to try to be true about who you are,
your basic identity,
and not to be able to fear it
and not tie it to some God or anything like that.
Like, George, what you're asking us to pray for
just doesn't seem to make any sense to me.
Those are very good comments.
Like, they really are.
And here's, I think, why this is so wise.
Teach me your way, O Lord.
Remember, when we pray that,
we're praying that the gospel will...
that we're really, what we're asking as Christians
is when we ask to know your way,
it's not a matter of us knowing the rules
that God wants us to follow to make us right with him
or to make ourselves look good
or manipulate God or get anything from God
or put him in his favor,
but it's really just acknowledging
that none of that works at all.
And we're asking the Father to have the Holy Spirit
teach our heart at a deeper and deeper level
the truth of the gospel,
that Jesus has done everything to make us right with him.
And when I say that I may walk in your truth,
it's not that we're saying that everything that's true
that matters is in the Bible,
but everything in the Bible is true,
but that God is inviting us to be a people of the truth.
And so when it says,
unite my heart to fear your name,
here's the truth about you and me.
Every human heart is splintered
and broken and contradictory.
Every human heart is splintered
and broken and contradictory.
We want to have more money,
but we don't want to be materialistic.
We want to be completely and utterly fiercely independent
of ourselves,
and we'd love to have a life partner
that can be with us.
We'd like to have children,
but we don't really want to change their diapers
or have them wake up ten times in a night
because they're puking their guts out.
We want to be really popular,
but we don't want to be those shallow people
who want to be popular.
We want to be really fit,
but we'd also like to eat lots of poutine
and watch Netflix.
And we'd like to be thought of as good,
but we'd also like to be known as a bit dangerous,
edgy.
And we could just keep multiplying it,
and for different generations,
you're going to add different things.
But the fact of the matter is
is that our human hearts are splintered and contradictory.
Which is the real me?
Like, which is the real me?
You know, the fact of the matter is
we want to be faithful to our spouse,
and we also want to potentially imagine
having sex with people who aren't our spouse
or be found attractive by others.
You can keep multiplying this time and time again.
Which is the real me?
And that's separate from the fact
that for many of us,
our hearts have been broken.
Our hearts have been crushed.
Our hearts are weighed down.
Our hearts are heavy.
The fact of the matter is
is that if we take a moment
to think about it for a second,
what most of us would like
would be to have our hearts be healed
and to be made whole.
To no longer have our hearts ruled
with it being splintered and broken
and battered and bruised
and contradictory
and going in different directions,
that on one level,
this prayer is exactly
what people really want,
that our hearts would be one.
That there'd be a basic type of coherence
and order
and wholeness
to our hearts
that aren't contradictory.
But then some of you say,
well, George, what's up with that?
That makes sense.
But gosh,
unite my heart to fear your name?
Like, that doesn't seem to make any sense.
It doesn't make any sense to say,
like, I could say, George,
I could have prayed with that prayer.
If you just said,
well, unite my heart,
like,
unite my heart,
and, you know,
you could have,
that could be a greeting card.
Unite my heart.
And then if you just said,
unite my heart to dot, dot, dot, dot,
that would be a profoundly Christian greeting card.
Unite my heart to love,
to joy,
to dance,
to be independent.
You know,
the very, very funny thing is that
we Canadians,
we want to have a business,
like a greeting card that says,
unite my heart to dot, dot, dot,
and then realize that the reason we want
dot, dot, dot after it
is precisely because our heart isn't united.
We want a whole pile of contradictory things
that work against each other.
Be united.
I mean,
be independent.
Be compassionate.
You know,
be decisive.
Be open.
So, George,
I don't understand how this text
wants to say me,
unite my heart to fear your name.
Well, remember,
everything to see in the text
is to be seen in light of the gospel.
St. Augustine a long time ago said,
you have made us for yourself
and our hearts are restless
till they rest in you.
You have made us for yourself
and our hearts are restless
till they rest in you.
I mean,
the wisdom of the Bible
is that we are creatures.
We aren't gods with small g's.
We are creatures.
And as creatures,
God made us
to be connected to him
and united with him.
In a sense,
we are never
properly centered
or whole
until we're connected to God,
reconciled to God.
Until we're reconciled to God,
our hearts will always
be contradictory
and splintered.
And so,
what this prayer
is praying us for
in terms of the fearing
of the name of the Lord
is
it's asking something
that if we think about it
a little bit,
it's actually a very,
very common human problem
that gets magnified
a hundred million times
when it comes to God.
So,
think of a very,
very standard problem
in a couple.
In a couple,
a very,
very standard problem
is that I can start
to forget
that Louise
is different than me.
And I can easily
start to imagine
that what I want
is what Louise wants.
what will make me happy
is what will make
Louise happy.
That what I plan
is what Louise
wants to plan.
I can start to forget
that Louise
is different than me.
Now,
I'm really protected
in that
for two reasons.
One is,
Louise will get mad at me
completely and utterly properly
when I start
to overwhelm her
and think that somehow
everything I want,
everything I think
is right,
everything I think
is the best way to do it
is exactly how she thinks
and she'll get mad at me
because she's real
and she's right there
and she should be mad at me.
She's doing the right thing
to be upset.
And so,
at least there's some type
of a proper protection
against that.
But what's it like
with God?
I mean,
the fact of the matter is
that it becomes
very easy,
this is cutting in and out.
Is that just me?
I don't know why
it's cutting in and out.
I'll just keep talking.
The light's not flashing at me
which means it needs
a new battery.
Anyway,
so,
what this idea
of the fear of the Lord is
is that the gospel
starts to come
into our hearts
and into our minds
and into our lives
so that it starts
to teach me
and train me
as to the difference
between me and God
that I no longer
get confused
about who I am
and who God is.
Where I get to know
more and more and more
where I begin
and end
and my edges
even at the level
of my will
and my affections
and my emotions
and where God is
that I understand
that I'm different
and separate from God.
and that as the gospel
comes into my life
to tell me more and more
and teach me who God is
and teach me
who I myself am
it begins to work
within me
so I know my edges
and I know God's edges
and I know that God
is different than me
and I don't confuse
my will with God's will
and my pleasure
with God's pleasure
and my hopes
with God's hopes
that the gospel
gives me a context
whereby I start
to understand
I'm not God
and that's good
but at the same time
as the gospel
starts to create
within me this sense
that God is completely
and utterly different
from me
yet at the same time
the gospel communicates
to me that God
is close to me
that he wants me
to know him
he wants me
to love him
he wants me
to yearn for him
he wants me
to desire to taste
more and more of him
but at the same time
I never do that
or the gospel
starts to train us
to learn never
to do that
thinking that somehow
God and me
are the same
or that my plans
and my desires
are the same
and it's the work
of the Holy Spirit
to create within us
this sense of God
being so different
from me
and so other than me
and that I am not God
but that that's good
and the whole process
this whole naming
of it in the Old Testament
is calling the fearing
of the Lord
and it's not just
an Old Testament idea
it's in the New Testament
if you go back later on
and read Acts chapter 9
verse 31
one of the things
that Acts 9 31 says
is that the church
was growing
in the fear of the Lord
and the comfort
of the Holy Spirit
because it's the role
of the Holy Spirit
to help me to know
how different I am
from God
to not confuse
my wants
with God's wants
my imagination
with God's imagination
my happiness
with God's happiness
it starts to teach me
and train me
about the difference
between me and God
and to be comfortable
with the fact
that that is good
and that I shouldn't want
to try to usurp
God's role
and the reason
the word fear
is used
is because
on one hand
as a person
who's been
has the gospel
I realize
with a type of fear
and loathing
or you start
to get trained
by the gospel
to realize
that when you start
to actually transgress
as if you're
imagining
or pretending
that you're God
that you get
convicted of sin
and the word fear
then starts to become
a word of awe
of awe of God
of just how
who he is
in and of himself
and I am not God
and he is infinite
and I am finite
and he's the creator
and I am a creature
he is outside
of all time
I am in time
and his thoughts
are higher than mine
his wisdom
is greater than mine
his purity
is different than mine
and it's only
as I'm reconciled
to God
that that starts
to make any type
of a sense
of the goodness
and properness
of it
and I don't want
to talk to you
as if I've achieved
all of these things
all I'm trying
to tell you
is that's what
the fear of the Lord
is
and why it is
that we want
to pray it
we want
to pray
to know
the fear
of the Lord
because it will
only help you
to know
who you are
and how you're
not God
and how God
is God
we know this
in a very very
tiny little way
when we're non-Christians
because
what happens
and actually
even in our
fallen selves
is that
when we bump
up against God
or get too close
to God
we realize
that we're not
I'm not going
to go that direction
I'm going
to confuse you
we're just going
to keep
with the other thing
I want to encourage
you
this is why
the line works
together
unite my heart
to fear your name
is that as the gospel
comes into our life
it starts to create
the context
whereby
my heart
can be healed
and I can have
one heart
and it even
it means
that in my prayer
I can say
Father
I confess
before you
I'm so divided
I'm so contradictory
I'm so scattered
Father
unite my heart
and so much
of my scatteredness
is connecting
to want to be like God
or take God's role
or be
more important
or greater
or be the center
or any of those things
and Father
I don't want to do
any of those things
unite my heart
to you
to fear you
to know your name
to know who you are
to know that
I've been made
in your image
you're not made in mine
you are my creator
I am not your creator
you are not a creature
I am the creature
Father
unite my heart
make me whole
unite my heart
Father
around who you are
to be reconciled
with you
Father
unite my heart
to fear your name
to never
just to have a deep
settled fear
that I will ever
start to transgress
my life
in such a way
that I start to think
that I am God
or that I am great
or that I am over you
Father
help me to have
a proper fear
of transgressing
into your realm
Father
unite my heart
make my heart
whole
connected to who you are
and that I am a creature
redeemed by Jesus
I am a sinner
redeemed by Jesus
I am
I am one
who is far from God
and your son
crossed that
infinite distance
that I could not cross
your son crossed that
to bring me to you
I could never
come to you
your son
has brought me to you
Father
unite my heart
to fear your name
please stand
just invite you to
say this psalm with me
this is one verse
I mean the main thing
about this I guess
is I just want to
encourage you to
memorize the verse
and I
I mean the thing
that I've been trying
to work out all week
because I memorized it
quite quickly
this particular verse
is
I'm trying to pray it
every day
because I need it
I need to be reminded
of the gospel
and I need to walk
in the truth
and I need to walk
I need to have my heart
united
and I want to
I need to have my heart
fear God
so
if will you just
say this with me now
as a prayer
and I'll close with prayer
teach me your way
oh Lord
that I may walk
in your truth
unite my heart
to fear your name
Father
we ask that the Holy Spirit
would move mightily
in our lives
I ask that the Holy Spirit
would move mightily
in my life
and I ask Father
that
as the Holy Spirit
comes deeply
into my life
Father
that
that the gospel
will become real
more real
to my mind
more real
to my plans
more real
to my memories
more real
to my guilt
more real
to my shame
more real
Father
to every part
of who I am
Father
I ask that the Holy Spirit
would move deeply
within me
so that I would know
more fully
who Jesus is
how much he loves me
and how much
he accomplished
for me
in his sinless life
and sin bearing
substitutionary
sacrificial
death
Father
bring the gospel
home to me
in an ever deeper
and realer way
through the work
of your Holy Spirit
and I ask this
in Jesus name
Amen
praying for my sins
Amen
paradise
amen
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